Well I was in the mood today for a little bit of Horror which got me curious. I began looking up Japanese horror stories, and was not disappointed.
First up, Crunchyroll has a short series called Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories. They abe about 6 minutes long per episode and the art style is very eerie. I enjoyed it very much and was thouroughly creeped out. The summary from Crunchyroll is as follows:
"Yamishibai is a picture-story style of animation whose motif is surrounded and based off the rumors, and urban legends throughout the history of Japan."
First up, Crunchyroll has a short series called Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories. They abe about 6 minutes long per episode and the art style is very eerie. I enjoyed it very much and was thouroughly creeped out. The summary from Crunchyroll is as follows:
"Yamishibai is a picture-story style of animation whose motif is surrounded and based off the rumors, and urban legends throughout the history of Japan."
Then I decided to find more in depth stories. I found a website that Translated Japanese horror stories called Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai. This website goes more into the history and beginnings of some of the most well known Japanese horror stories. It actually even talks about the triangle white cloth that the Japanese 'ghosts' wear and why they have those.
If you would like to read on that click here. Over all this site was interesting in more of the historical point of view.
If you would like to read on that click here. Over all this site was interesting in more of the historical point of view.
As I continued on my journey through the internet I found a site that talked about the most haunted places in Japan. This was chilling to read. It was more about old war or nuclear areas.
Another site I found talked about 7 creepiest places on earth, and #7 was Takakanonuma Greenland in Japan. If you click here you can read about it and see more pictures of it aside from the one I have above. It is the first one that the site talks about.
Another site I found talked about 7 creepiest places on earth, and #7 was Takakanonuma Greenland in Japan. If you click here you can read about it and see more pictures of it aside from the one I have above. It is the first one that the site talks about.
Moving on, Tofugu did a blog post on abandoned Japanese theme parks, Takakanonuma Greenland is mentioned briefly along with others.
A really famous Japanese story is that of Okiku.
"During the Edo Period, there was a samurai by the name of Aoyama Tessan who had a servant named Okiku. Tessan had had Okiku in his service for awhile, and from simply having her around, gradually began to fall in love with her and her beauty. However, no matter how many advances he made toward Okiku, she refused him and left Tessan quite frustrated.
He devised a plan though to persuade Okiku to become his and left her in charge of 10 incredibly valuable ceramic plates that were family heirlooms. Okiku did her duty, attended to those plates everyday, counting them one by one and cleaning them with great care.
One day though, Tessan snuck away and hid one of the plates just before calling upon Okiku and asking her to present them to him. Okiku went to go fetch them, but to her dismay, she could only count 9! She counted them over and over just to make sure, but one was missing. When she presented the 9 to Tessan, he of course feigned fury and told Okiku that he would overlook this infraction if she would become his. Okiku still refused. Out of rage, Tessan cut her down with his sword and threw her body in the well in his yard.
Unfortunately for Tessan, however, every night he began to hear the distinct sound of counting followed by a loud wail as the spirit of Okiku rose up and down the well repeating the very reason for her demise. ”1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…Oh~!!”
The sound of the constant counting and wails kept Tessan up and began to drive him mad. He confided in a friend who came over one day and when Okiku got to 9, the friend shouted “TEN!” and Okiku disappeared."
The story doesn't end there. If you click here you can learn more of what happens next ;) For more information on this ghost story there is also this website as well.
"During the Edo Period, there was a samurai by the name of Aoyama Tessan who had a servant named Okiku. Tessan had had Okiku in his service for awhile, and from simply having her around, gradually began to fall in love with her and her beauty. However, no matter how many advances he made toward Okiku, she refused him and left Tessan quite frustrated.
He devised a plan though to persuade Okiku to become his and left her in charge of 10 incredibly valuable ceramic plates that were family heirlooms. Okiku did her duty, attended to those plates everyday, counting them one by one and cleaning them with great care.
One day though, Tessan snuck away and hid one of the plates just before calling upon Okiku and asking her to present them to him. Okiku went to go fetch them, but to her dismay, she could only count 9! She counted them over and over just to make sure, but one was missing. When she presented the 9 to Tessan, he of course feigned fury and told Okiku that he would overlook this infraction if she would become his. Okiku still refused. Out of rage, Tessan cut her down with his sword and threw her body in the well in his yard.
Unfortunately for Tessan, however, every night he began to hear the distinct sound of counting followed by a loud wail as the spirit of Okiku rose up and down the well repeating the very reason for her demise. ”1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…Oh~!!”
The sound of the constant counting and wails kept Tessan up and began to drive him mad. He confided in a friend who came over one day and when Okiku got to 9, the friend shouted “TEN!” and Okiku disappeared."
The story doesn't end there. If you click here you can learn more of what happens next ;) For more information on this ghost story there is also this website as well.
Well that is all for now! Maybe I will do some more Japanese Horror sometime soon.
Enjoy!~
Enjoy!~